8:18 pm September 23rd, 2008 I watched my grandfather take his last breath from complications of previously undiscovered colon cancer. That in itself has nothing to do with debt, money or finances but he was the man that’s sculpted me to who I am today.

In this hobby of mine to become debt free, I often get caught up in achieving the goal and I sometime forget the reason for doing so. Of course it’s to change my family’s legacy, but at the same time I should note to self that our family was in great hands anyways and I’m planning to build on that.

My grandfather was a template (I follow) for selflessness. He lived with, through and for his family. He sacrificed so much for our family without blinking an eye while keeping a smile and an occasional lame joke. Not to get too spiritual, but I believe that parental up-bringing plays a more important role than religion as he was my Jesus, Yahweh, Jehovah, etc as he’s lived the perfect life (in my eyes).

He’s helped mold me into what I am today. He’s that one childhood figure that you’re fascinated with that sticks with you forever. For some people it’s religion as a child that you come back to to get comfort. For me it’s my family. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s more people that have influenced my life and thoughts also, but he’s one of the most influential people I’ve ever had a chance to know.

Just to name a few obvious things he’s directly influenced in my life:

Just graduating from high school, I’ve always had alternatives as to what I’d do for a living but I had no clue as to what I WOULD do. My options were barber, artist, Ford Motor company, or try to make it as a professional baseball player. I knew I was going to college but I had no idea what to major in. My grandfather sat me down and said, “With the way the computers are becoming so popular, maybe you should look into computers”. The only experience I had with computers (’93) was in art class drawing in MS paint (which I liked since I’m an artist). To make that long story short I graduated with a 3.1 gpa from Lane College with a bachelor’s in Computer Science.

Fast forward 8 years (2001)… Our family was living check to check and in casual conversation I expressed with him that I needed to start budgeting. He sat me down and had shown me how he did his budget. Basically, he wrote his income and outgoing on a yellow pad and stuck the difference (with exception of $100) into his savings. I immediately went home and devised a spreadsheet to track and forecast my budget for the entire year every year.

Before Dave Ramsey, Turtle was the first person to explain to me how he doesn’t believe in life insurance once your assets are enough for your family.

Taught me that racism is really a mindset of the stupid. Ever since I’ve viewed racism as ignorance instead of racism.

In a round-a-bout way he’s also taught me to appreciate people that are younger than me in the family that are stepping up to the plate when the wrong path is SO easy.

We didn't either... he went in from what he thought was a "virus" Sunday the 21st and didn't make it out.

Well, I feel privileged to have shared him with you for a short time several months ago. I could tell he was loved and respected by the entire family. That's quite a legacy and few are fortunate to leave one like it.